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Old 01-06-2015, 07:17 PM   #1466
Evil Vito
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Looking at next year's first of first year HOF eligible players, Griffey is the obvious headliner. Trevor Hoffman and Billy Wagner are there too. There's not a chance in hell that two closers are going in at the same time, and frankly even with 601 saves I'm not sure Hoffman will be a first ballot guy. Voters in general seem to have devalued closers. I think Hoffman will get in but maybe in his second or third year (but definitely before Rivera). Wagner might stick on the ballot for ages ala Lee Smith but not sure he's a lock. Jim Edmonds is another guy I can see sticking on the ballot if only from support from the new-school voters as he has far better WAR numbers than several outfielders who are already in.

So yeah, I'm fairly optimistic about Piazza next year. It does alarm me though that of the people who didn't vote for him - a lot of them were New York writers who covered him enough to feel suspicious based only on his physique. One of them even said "I'd rather risk leaving out someone innocent than letting someone guilty in." God bless America. I think he'll make it though unless something concrete comes out.
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